The Atomica pizza is a favorite. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park BART station.

The Atomica pizza is a favorite. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park BART station.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Image 2 of 5

The dining room at Gialina is filled with pictures of owner Sharon Ardiana's family. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park BART station. less

The dining room at Gialina is filled with pictures of owner Sharon Ardiana's family. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park ... more

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Image 3 of 5

The roast of the day is pork belly with farro. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park BART station.

The roast of the day is pork belly with farro. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park BART station.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Image 4 of 5

The Arugula salad includes persimmon. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park BART station.

The Arugula salad includes persimmon. Gialina serves one of the finest pizzas in the Bay Area from their unassuming location on Diamond Street near the Glen Park BART station.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

Image 5 of 5

Gialina's crust sets this pizza apart

1 / 5

Back to Gallery

People have more opinions about pizza than any other food. If they grew up with the pliable New York style, that becomes the touchstone for a great pie. If they like thin and crisp, they'll disparage a fat Chicago crust. It's all a matter of perspective.

Taking a stand is akin to going before a firing squad; it's impossible not to take a bullet or two. Yet for two years I've danced around my favorite pizza in the Bay Area: Gialina.

I've written about it several times on my blog and in the newspaper, and I've been to the restaurant a dozen times, but I've never written a formal review. It was an oversight on my part, or maybe subconsciously I wanted to have enough ammunition before I jumped into the line of fire.

LATEST FOOD VIDEOS

13 Annoying Things You’re Doing At Restaurants, According To ServersDelish

These Brownie Cups Are The Cutest St. Patty's Day Treats EverDelish

How to Make Instant Pot Spaghetti SquashMyRecipes

We Can't Get Enough Of Paprika Chicken & RiceDelish

Bacon Asparagus Brie Bites Are The Perfect Spring AppDelish

How to Make Sheet Pan Flank Steak with Salsa VerdeCooking Light

How to Make a Pineapple BoatMyRecipes

How to Make Sheet Pan Hawaiian ShrimpCooking Light

Bacon Bow TiesSouthern Living

How to Make Crispy Oven-Fried ChickenCooking Light

Many are convinced a wood oven is the key to a perfect pizza, which is true if you adhere to Neapolitan standards. At Gialina, owner Sharon Ardiana, who's cooked at such places as Lime, Boulevard and Slow Club, uses a Blodgett gas oven cranked up to 650 degrees. It's pretty hot, but not as intense as the 900 degrees that comes from a raging wood-stoked fire.

What sets Gialina pizza apart is the handmade crust, with puffy edges that are darkened but not blistered and a delicately chewy texture - it's nearly cracker-crisp on the outside, giving way to that elusive tender breadiness. The secret, according to Ardiana, is a low yeast-to-flour ratio and a dough that is wetter than most. She also makes the dough the night before so it has time to proof.

Toppings are restrained; Ardiana creates 13 and I've never had a bad one, whether she's taking the night off or toiling in the back with stacks of pizza boxes balanced above her head. The most popular is the Atomica ($15), where the crust is slathered with a thin wash of sweet tomato sauce topped with mozzarella, mushrooms, red onions and rings of chiles. It's an explosion of sweet, salty, mild, spicy, crisp and tender - just about every yin-yang description that makes food great.

Other unique and popular pizzas include one spread with wild nettles and scattered with pancetta, mushrooms, red onions and aged provolone ($16), and another paved with thin slices of potatoes that crisp at the edges, scattered with applewood smoked bacon, red onions, dots of Gorgonzola and fresh rosemary ($15).

Autumn specials

In summer and early fall, I love Ardiana's version of the BLT: slices of organic tomatoes with bacon, mozzarella, basil and arugula ($17), and in the autumn she combines butternut squash with brown butter, sage and both ricotta and ricotta salata ($14).

The classic margherita ($12.50) is also a winner and can serve as a base for other toppings such as an organic egg ($2), pepperoni ($2), sausage ($3) and Tutto Calabria chiles ($1.50), among others.

To complement the pizza, the chef creates a half-dozen starters, including mixed lettuces ($7/$14) served in a bowl for sharing. At this time of year the peppery arugula, glistening in Muscatel vinaigrette, is tossed with sweet, crunchy persimmon, tangy goat cheese and meaty pistachios ($9/$18).

If I didn't love the pizza so much, I might just head for the salad and the little meatballs bubbling in a cauldron of tomato sauce glazed with aged provolone ($9). There's always a hot vegetable, from long-cooked Romano beans to sauteed rapini ($6) with currants, chiles, lemon, garlic and a sprinkling of pine nuts.

The kitchen also crafts a single roast each night, which might be chunks of well-rendered pork belly ($17) that melt into a cool salad with farro and green beans dressed with saba. On other nights Ardiana might offer chicken or pork chops; they're always worth ordering, though most people bypass them in favor of the pizza. I usually have both.

Pizza can also end the meal: A dessert pizza where the salty, nutty crust becomes the canvas for a thick slather of Nutella ($9), the chocolate hazelnut spread. There's also a dense slice of chocolate pistachio cake ($7) with whipped cream and Bi-Rite vanilla ice cream, or my favorites - house-made blood orange or cappuccino Italian ice (both $6). Many also head for the traditional affogato ($5) with a double shot of Equator Fair Trade espresso and two scoops of ice cream.

Like many of her contemporaries, Ardiana is PC and uses organic products, fair trade coffee and offers green tea, but don't hold that against her, Anthony Bourdain; she turns out real, honest food. Plus, she imparts that same commitment to freshness and familial vibe to her eclectic staff. They are quick, efficient and know the small menu.

Family photos

The cramped, 40-seat interior has become a shrine to her family. Poster-size black-and-white photographs line the wall opposite the store-front windows. In one, her mother and grandmother in 1920s garb pose in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In another her elderly grandparents overlook the always crowded dining room table. They sit side by side on a sofa, staring straight at the camera. Her grandfather wears a forlorn look and a miniature derby in the middle of his head, and his wife is earnestly posed with a feathery party hat.

Ardiana does her relatives proud; she's created a restaurant with a lot of soul, and her pizza honors them in a way nothing else can.

The wine list

The one place where Gialina doesn't break out of the typical pizza parlor mold is with the wine list. The nine wines on the all-Italian list represent different styles and regions, and all are priced under $40, but the mark-ups are high, high, high - perhaps the highest in the city.

For example, the 2007 Castello Monaci Primitivo retails for around $12 and is $33 on the list. The 2008 Cantina Colosi Nero D'Avola retails for slightly higher and is $36. That said, all the wines are well made and good, and all are available by the glass or carafe. As is all too common, the red wines are served too warm.

There are also four beers ($4.25-$4.50) and Pellegrino Limonata and Aranciata ($2.50).